TexasKnucklehead
Jedi Knight
Offline
So after a trip to Austin last week, I have 800 miles on the TR3. It's running like a clock I and ran over to a friends to pick up a heater motor. When I start the car, it starts, but doesn't sound like the starter is happy. When I get home, and try another re-start, the starter refuses. I checked the voltages, and all is well up to the starter. So I pull the starter, see some oil and dirt on the commutator and clean it off. With a battery charger as a voltage source, it spins up slow, but seems fine. With the car battery, it seems fine too. (I love breaking down in my own garage.)
Here's where I get a little over involved. I send a note to some club members and it happens the monthly meeting is at our house the next afternoon. Suddenly I have 5 starters, not counting mine and I decide I need to measure the "light running current" as specified in the Bently manual. Starting Motor, Section 3, Performance Data specifies "light running current 4.5 amps at 7,400-8,500 rpm." I assume this would be the starter running without a load, and the "bench testing" method described would support this. However, the book recommends a meter capable of measuring 600 amps at 12v. I have 2 meters with 10aDC max, and another with 20aDC max -that peg when I try to read the "light running current". I added a length of 14g solid copper wire (with a typical resistance value of .003 ohm/ft) and can measure the voltage drop across the wire with the motor running at 200mV -with slight variance, all the starters are the same. So, if I=V/R I can assume the motors are drawing about 66amps.
My question is, why would the book suggest the current to be 4.5 amps? I know that assuming my foot of wire is exactly .003 ohms is probably not accurate, but I'm pretty sure my calculated value is closer to realistic than the book value.
My starter is back in the car, and it is starting fine, but I wonder about the accuracy of my test and the Bently.
Here's where I get a little over involved. I send a note to some club members and it happens the monthly meeting is at our house the next afternoon. Suddenly I have 5 starters, not counting mine and I decide I need to measure the "light running current" as specified in the Bently manual. Starting Motor, Section 3, Performance Data specifies "light running current 4.5 amps at 7,400-8,500 rpm." I assume this would be the starter running without a load, and the "bench testing" method described would support this. However, the book recommends a meter capable of measuring 600 amps at 12v. I have 2 meters with 10aDC max, and another with 20aDC max -that peg when I try to read the "light running current". I added a length of 14g solid copper wire (with a typical resistance value of .003 ohm/ft) and can measure the voltage drop across the wire with the motor running at 200mV -with slight variance, all the starters are the same. So, if I=V/R I can assume the motors are drawing about 66amps.
My question is, why would the book suggest the current to be 4.5 amps? I know that assuming my foot of wire is exactly .003 ohms is probably not accurate, but I'm pretty sure my calculated value is closer to realistic than the book value.
My starter is back in the car, and it is starting fine, but I wonder about the accuracy of my test and the Bently.